Writing for the Web in the AI Age: Tips for Keeping Your Readers Engaged
It’s official: AI is everywhere. It’s writing emails, generating ads, drafting blog posts, and filling the internet with more words than ever before. And while it offers efficiency, it also presents a new problem: content slop.
You’ve seen it, right? Generic intros. Overused phrasing. Perfectly grammatical sentences that somehow say nothing at all.
Now, the challenge isn’t whether to use AI; it’s how to use it without sounding like everyone else. Writing for the web in the AI age means knowing when to lean on automation and when to use your judgment. AI can help you write better, but it can also flatten your content if you’re not careful. Here’s how to use it well.
AI shines when it’s used more as a collaborator than a ghostwriter. It’s especially helpful when:
Where AI struggles is with the final draft. Unedited AI copy tends to over-explain, repeat itself, sound generic and lack any real personality. Treat AI like a junior writer with great speed and no taste. If you don’t want to get parasocial with it, then calling it a tool is fine.
The em dash has become the unlikely villain of this story. Prior to the AI age, it was a useful tool for adding emphasis and clarifying a point.
But AI loves em dashes. And when every paragraph contains one—or two—or three—it’s telling.
If you personally enjoy using them when grammar permits, consider yourself warned. Readers will accuse you of using AI, even when you don’t. If you must, use them sparingly, and only when they genuinely add to the sentence.
AI defaults to lists of three because they feel complete, balanced, and safe. See what we did there? But like the em dash, it does go overboard. Suddenly, there are three benefits for that, then three reasons for this and so on. Humans like the number three for the reasons above, but we don’t tend to only think this way. The lack of variation in AI-generated content, therefore, comes across as formulaic.
The solution is simple. Vary your structure. Mix short paragraphs with lists. Let some ideas stand on their own without forcing symmetry. Real writing doesn’t always resolve itself neatly.
Be honest, how many times have you seen this opening?
“In today’s digital landscape…”
“In today’s fast-paced world…”
“In the ever-evolving marketing landscape…”
Take a look at some of our own blog posts, and you’ll probably find a few with these intros. At the time, it felt like a perfectly reasonable starting point, but then we noticed it was showing up everywhere.
Now, how does it read, knowing how common it has become?
Instead, open with something specific. Perhaps it’s a new stat or an observation only a human would notice. Your reader has already heard about the landscape. They want to know why they should keep reading.
AI is the king of verbosity. LLMs love to generate content that goes on and on without missing a single detail. Is it fair to say ChatGPT is the robot equivalent of those extroverts who love to hear their own voice? Honestly, it’s exhausting.
Convoluted clauses stacked together may sound “smart,” initially, but web readers don’t read that way. Shorter sentences create momentum and invite scanning. They keep people moving.
If a sentence needs three commas to survive, it should probably die.
You’ve seen this one too:
“We don’t just build websites. We build experiences.”
“We don’t just market brands. We tell stories.”
We’re guilty! This positive-negative juxtaposition was once an effective literary tool. But again, AI latched onto the trend and ruined it.
AI leans heavily on contrast-based positioning statements like this. The problem is they often replace proof with posturing. Instead of saying what you don’t do, show what you actually do more specifically. At BOIM, we likely won’t fully retire this trope, but we’ll try to use it sparingly and only if it delivers maximum impact.
AI will happily give you 400 words when 200 will do.
Editing is where good web writing happens. Ask:
Quality over quantity, every time.
Whether you’re writing product copy or a tantalizing exposé, remember: you’re writing for someone real on the other side of the screen.
Good web writing can be conversational without being casual. It anticipates questions. It respects the reader’s time.
Like you would in a respectful exchange, talk with them rather than at them.
Yes, they add structure and organization, but section headings are also a useful UX tool. Headers are for readers who skim before they commit.
Strong headers:
Note that last point. Good headers will give readers what they need upfront without requiring much time or effort. But the best headers? They actually persuade readers to prioritize your content and spend more time interacting with the page.
There’s a reason lists work so well. The human brain loves neat little structures.
People don’t read online the way they read a novel. They scan, pause, jump ahead, and come back. Writing that acknowledges this fact simply makes the experience better.
Remember to be deliberate with lists and use the best format for the subject matter (i.e. assess when to use bullets vs. numbers, paragraphs vs short sentences with breaks).
This might be the most important tip.
Experiment. Push back on its suggestions. Rewrite its output again and again until it sounds like you/your brand. Or hey, get into a deep philosophical debate with it so that you’re actually turning your brain on when you use it.
Writing effectively amidst an AI craze isn’t about rejecting new tools. It’s about using them wisely. AI should function more like a sounding board than a replacement for your (or your brand’s) voice.
If you want help crafting content that balances efficiency with originality, Blue Ocean Interactive Marketing are the pros you want to chat with. We use AI in ways that enhance our services while heeding its clear limitations. We also understand it so well that we know how to target generative engines, so clients show up in their citations.
Contact us today to learn more about our content writing and AI + SEO packages!
